Kyoungchul Kong

Kyoungchul (KC) Kong is a Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Kansas, serving as Director of Graduate Studies. His research focuses on theoretical particle physics, particularly Physics Beyond the Standard Model, including collider physics, supersymmetry, extra dimensions, and dark matter. He also explores applications of AI and quantum algorithms in physics. Kong holds a PhD from the University of Florida (2006) and has held positions at SLAC and Fermilab before joining KU in 2010.

• Affiliations: University of Kansas (2010–present), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (2009–2010), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (2006–2010)
• Research Interests: Collider Physics, Quantum Machine Learning, Dark Matter Detection, Supersymmetry, and Extra Dimensions

His work bridges theoretical and experimental particle physics, with contributions to detector design (e.g., the ILD detector for the Future Circular Collider) and collaborations like the FCC and Muon Collider initiatives. He has pioneered methods for dark matter detection and leveraged machine learning for jet classification and top quark analysis.

Key Awards:

• 2021 University Scholarly Achievement Award
• 2011 NSF EPSCoR First Award
• 2009 Outstanding Young Research Award (AKPA)
• 2005 Graduate Student Research Award (UF)

Grants & Collaborations: Kong leads KU’s contributions to FCC and muon collider projects, emphasizing detector development and quantum computing applications. His lab focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to collider physics and dark matter.